Transducer Selection and Activation for Precise Cardiac Lesion Placement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Intravascular or percutaneous medical procedures face challenges in accurately positioning transducers within the body due to the complexity of device structure and lack of direct visual contact, particularly in treating heart disorders like atrial fibrillation, where creating lesions in correct locations is difficult and can lead to severe adverse results.
Innovation Solution
A transducer-based device system with enhanced graphical path generation, transducer selection, and activation capabilities, allowing for improved positioning and discrimination between tissue and blood using characteristics like blood flow detection, impedance change, and deflection force detection, and enabling treatments such as tissue ablation and pacing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If intravascular or percutaneous techniques are used to access inner organs, then surgery risk and recovery time are reduced, but device structure complexity increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into multiple independent transducers arranged along the catheter shaft, with each transducer capable of independent activation for specific functions such as mapping, sensing, or ablation at different locations along the catheter
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter system integrates multiple functions including electrical mapping, impedance sensing, temperature monitoring, and tissue ablation within a single device structure, allowing one device to perform multiple surgical tasks
2Ease of operation
If intravascular or percutaneous techniques are used, then access to inner organs is gained, but direct visual contact with medical devices is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates real-time feedback through graphical user interfaces that display the position, status, and functional state of each transducer as the catheter moves through the body, providing visual information about device location and operation
Solution Approach 2:
The physical position and state of transducers inside the body are represented by corresponding graphical icons on a display screen, creating a visual copy of the internal device states that doctors can observe in real-time
3Productivity
If multiple transducers are used for mapping and treatment, then treatment effectiveness is improved, but difficulty in creating lesions in correct locations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs electrical mapping and impedance sensing measurements before ablation to identify precise locations of anatomical structures and safe zones, allowing the operator to plan and execute lesion creation with high precision
Solution Approach 2:
Visual and tactile guidance are replaced by electrical field-based mapping and impedance imaging that provides precise localization of tissue boundaries and anatomical features, enabling accurate lesion placement without direct visual contact
4Adaptability or versatility
If transducers are activated for multiple functions, then device versatility is improved, but operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically activates only the necessary transducers for each specific procedure step based on real-time operational requirements, allowing the device to adapt between different functions (mapping, sensing, ablation) while maintaining simple operation through automated function selection
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances the accuracy and simplicity of transducer-based device operations within bodily cavities by providing real-time graphical representations and user-controlled repositioning, ensuring precise lesion creation and effective treatment of cardiac conditions.
Implementation Method 1
Various ones of the transducers may employ characteristics such as blood flow detection, impedance change detection or deflection force detection to discriminate between blood and tissue
Implementation Method 2
Various ones of the transducers may employ characteristics such as blood flow detection, impedance change detection or deflection force detection to discriminate between blood and tissue
Implementation Method 3
Various ones of the transducers may employ characteristics such as blood flow detection, impedance change detection or deflection force detection to discriminate between blood and tissue
Implementation Method 4
Various ones of the transducers may be used to treat tissue within a bodily cavity. Treatment may include tissue ablation by way of non-limiting example
Data Source
AI summary
A graphical representation may be displayed including at least a plurality of transducer graphical elements, each transducer graphical element of the plurality of transducer graphical elements representative of a respective transducer of a plurality of transducers of a transducer-based device. A set of user input may be received including an instruction set to reposition a first transducer graphical element in a state in which the first transducer graphical element is located at a first location in the graphical representation and a second transducer graphical element is located at a second location in the graphical representation, the second location closer to a predetermined location in the graphical representation than the first location. In response to conclusion of receipt of the set of user input, the first transducer graphical element may be repositioned from the first location in the graphical representation to the predetermined location in the graphical representation.